(For more on the Luscher Color Test, click HERE! We had a copy of that book hanging around our house in the early 1970's. I did the Color Test over and over as a young adolescent. It is a surprisingly quick and accurate gauge for one's mood at the time of the test.)

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Insight from the Dalai Lama, 12/25/08

"Faith dispels doubt and hesitation, it liberates you from suffering, and delivers you to the city of peace and happiness. It is faith that removes the mental turbidity and makes your mind clear. Faith reduces your pride and is the root of veneration. It is the supreme lake because you can easily traverse from one stage of the spiritual path to another. It is like your hand, which can gather all the virtuous qualities."

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

happy Christmas Eve to all

Monday, December 22, 2008

something a bit more pithy about Solstice

Dear Friend,

In honor of the solstice today, may you benefit from these words.

Rhythm of the Earth - Yule

As autumn yields to Winter's reign, the Earth returns to sleep again. The days grow short, the North Wind blows, it nips our noses, chills our toes. We seek the warmth & crave the Light, the glow of candles brighten the night. And though these are the darkest days, the Solstice Sun's returning rays bring promise of Spring's rebirth, the joyous waking of the Earth.

Tomorrow, (Sunday) is the Winter Solstice (December 21 @ 7:04 AM EST), a time for us to reconnect with the returning power of the Sun and to reconnect with the Earth. This is a time when we can join with traditional people and cultures around the planet to help bring harmony and balance into the world and into our lives.

By honoring our connection with the Sun and the Earth we honor the lives and efforts of all who help to hold the world in balance. One way we can do this is by altering the daily rhythm of our lives to create a space where we can express our intention, our vision of how the world could be.

Winter Solstice celebrates the longest night of the year and involves rituals of being born and re-born, of the renewal of hope and promise. This is the time of re-birth from darkness. Light comes from darkness, growth from barrenness and spring from the depths of winter. We are reborn to the experience of new be-ing when everything is understood and possible. We are here to bring light to the world.

The definition of Solstice means "standing still of the sun." It is when the Sun is truly returning bringing back warmth and life to the cold and barren Earth. At this moment of intense importance, Light is re-born.

To our ancient relations and the traditional cultures of today, this time of the year was and is crucial because their lives depended on the warmth and new growth promised at this time of year. This momentous occasion required due honor and observance or the sun might not come back.

Yule enables us to join in with the potential for rebirth and to be part of the cycle which is central to our existence. At the Equinoxes we feel balance and at the Solstices we feel the energy of change. At Mysterious Yule everything changes. Yule is a time for Earth energies. The silent earth waits for the return of the sun.

The beauty of the Old Ways is that it recognizes the interconnectedness of all existence. Yule is a time to understand, nurture and enjoy the special relationship that connects our modern holidays to our ancient and still vital traditions. Yule is an awakening and a thankfulness for our knowledge of and our connectedness to the Wheel of the Year.

Winter solstice marks a point of dramatic natural change on Earth. This is the most potent time of the year in terms of "being" surrounded by darkness and confusion, searching for the light. This all shifts on the day of the Winter Solstice when, although still surrounded by darkness and confusion, the light begins (slowly) to return. And as the Wheel of the year continues it's journey and the force of light increases, we can begin to see our path. May you feel the light around you grow and, through the single eye of spirit, may your energy become focused and effective.

Try and get outside and feel the return of the Sun filling your life with light, the power of the Earth grounding you beneath your feet, and the harmony of living a life of balance between them.

May the quiet of nature's slumber bring you peace and may the return of the Sun warm your heart. May the Balance be restored. May all beings be happy!

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

completely unbelievable

Mom mistakes childbirth for diarrhea, flushes newborn

LONDON - A woman has told a British court she accidentally flushed her newborn down the toilet because she didn't realize she was giving birth.

Claire Jones says she knew she was pregnant from an affair with a colleague but thought the pain she suffered in the early hours of Dec. 28 was from diarrhea.

Jones told a coroner's court in Cardiff, Wales, on Monday that she only realized what had happened when she saw a foot in the toilet bowl.

She said she tried unsuccessfully to revive the baby and then put the body in the trunk of her car.

The corpse was found in Jones' vehicle after she was arrested. She was given a suspended sentence for concealing the baby's birth.

The coroner's court is investigating the circumstances of the baby's death.

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who to pray for in this instance--the soul of the flushed baby?the rest of the life of this impossibly unconscious woman?the ripples of misery i myself have caused by posting this insane story?or '(d) all of the above?'